(Oregon Coast) – A return to very wintry conditions is coming to western Oregon, including the Oregon coast and Portland, bringing with it temps down to the 30's and maybe even snow.

Steve Pierce, a southern Washington-based meteorologist and owner of Northwest Weather Consultants, warns Mother Nature is about to remind us all that winter is not over yet.

Pierce said confidence is getting ever-higher in computer models that harken much colder weather by Tuesday, maybe even resulting in snow on Saturday.

“This would be the coldest air since the arctic blast of early December,” Pierce said.

Temperatures now appear they will fall as easterly winds develop, especially near the Portland metro area and points east into the Columbia River gorge, Pierce said. This will help to transport even colder air from east of the cascades into the Willamette Valley. Most forecasts now agree that daytime high temperatures could struggle to get above freezing, with overnight lows dropping well below freezing across the entire Pacific Northwest, including the coast.

“This would be the second such arctic event of the season, which is rare by Pacific Northwest standards,” Pierce said. “This type of pattern is also rare for February and only a few have occurred in the past 25 years, most notably February 1989 and February 1996. The last event which occurred in early December set overnight low temperature records at many locations across the Pacific Northwest including some all-time records for any month of the year.”

Even the Oregon coast could get a hard freeze, Pierce said. The National Weather Service is now predicting nighttime lows just under 30 degrees for the coast. The Portland area is looking at lows around 20 through Saturday.

All forecasts are currently calling for mostly sunny days on the coast, however. But Pierce said there is still uncertainty about how precipitation may happen around Oregon once the cold air pops into place.